She is an ultra runner, which means she runs longer than a traditional marathon of 26.2 miles. Valerio runs 50K marathons (31 miles), 100K (62 miles) marathons and even 120K (74.5 miles) marathons. Sheesh! Go ‘head girl!
She says when people see her running, they see “a fat girl running” and she’s comfortable with that label and even embraces it. When she started a runner’s blog in 2011, she appropriately titled it “Fat Girl Running” and it’s taken off to be an inspiration to literally thousands across the world.
“I didn’t do much running before meeting Mirna,” said one follower, while another credited Valerio with “always getting us going.”
Normally, she jogs across the picturesque campus of the Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, a prep school where she works as a voice teacher and coach of the cross country team.
“I love my body and I have learned that the more I love my body, the more I love myself, the healthier I am and I am a better person,” Mirna tells NBC Nightly News
It was not until a July 2015 profile in Runner’s World, however, that she became a well-known figure in the running world. The article sent a flood of traffic to Valerio’s blog. Runners of all shapes, sizes, and genders expressed their solidarity and support.
“When most people see me, you do see fat, and I’m okay with that…It’s just a word,” says Valerio. “You have to do you. You can’t wait until the moment to be perfect or for your body to perfect. Sometimes you just have to look in the mirror and just go for it.”
Overnight, Valerio became the voice for a whole class of athlete. “I too am a 250 pound runner,” wrote one reader. “And examples like yours make that a little easier.”
“Mirna, you have no idea what you have done to inspire literally every woman, not just women of size, but every woman to get out there and accomplish and achieve,” wrote another.
Valerio’s accomplishments are impressive. Her own personal record is 35 miles, a run that took her more than 13 hours to complete. She admits it sounds crazy — doing anything for that long — but says she is drawn by a…
… love the outdoors and a passion about the challenges that long distance running brings.
Valerio was not always an avid runner. In 2009, she weighed more than 300 pounds. She says she often suffered from sharp chest pains, signs that led her doctor to issue her a blunt warning: She would not live to see her young son grow up if she didn’t lose weight. That scare set her in motion on to the path where she finds herself today.
She took up running. Getting on the treadmill for that first mile, she says, was slow and painful. It took her 17 minutes, 45 seconds (side note: the average slow runner usually runs a mile within 12-13 minutes). But, within the course of the next six to seven months, she lost 41 pounds.
Miles don’t phase Valerio now. She says she craves the physical, emotional, and mental challenges of getting through a 26.2 mile marathon — a physical feat hardly matched in all of sports.
The now 40-year-old also ran the Javelina Jundred, an annual 100k race in the Arizona desert. Despite the impressive mileage she clocks, her weight remains mostly stable.
“When people think of a runner, they usually think of slim, maybe muscular, athletic…and I’m none of those. And I’m okay with that.”